Project Engineering Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Siemens Rail Automation, where I was given the opportunity to work on a live project. The people are very friendly and the company invest in developing individuals. Working here gave me a great insight into the everyday life of an engineer an opened my eyes to the different opportunities available.

I felt like a valued member of the team from the start, and felt like I was given respect from all members of staff. They treated me as an equal from the start and I was given real responsibility from the start, not just a task to keep me busy.

I was given guidance and support by my superiors, with them always thinking of my development.

I had peaks and troughs regarding to work, with some days being very busy and some days being very quiet. As my understanding of the role developed my workload increased greatly.

My responsibility increased as time developed but I had real responsibilities with my tasks contributing to the project I was working on. I was never given unrealistic tasks and was always given support and guidance if needed.

I feel as though my placement has greatly developed me as a person. From understanding the workplace to how to communicate more effectively. My confidence has also greatly developed. The skills I have learnt will definitely be applicable to my degree, allowing me to work more effectively when I return to university. This year has matured me as a person.

I worked in three different offices. The first was the HQ for my company, which was very formal - saying this it was still a friendly environment with several social areas. The other two was a small local office to me and a project office. Both these has a more relaxed atmosphere.

I enjoyed my placement but do feel as though the start of my placement could've been better organized. I was thrown a bit into the deep end will little knowledge, therefore more training (especially technical training) would've been helpful to ease me into the role. Saying this the company did make an effort to locate me in a project office as it was local to where I lived, therefore I didn't undertake the normal role of a placement student.

The company greatly invested in me, as I attended six courses in a period of 12 months. The company also offered a bursary for my student fees for my final two years at university.

Very appealing. The company invests in people greatly and want to develop people to managing roles. This is very appealing to me as I know I will get the support required for me to reach my full potential at the organization.

Yes there was a good social scene, with social event being organized by the company. If I was based at the HQ the events would be more frequent and more social club activities available for me.

I was living in the house I lived in previously with my university friends therefore the cost didn't change from my previous years.

As above I lived in the same city as I attended university therefore the nightlife was great!

As I was based mostly in a project office this meant that most of the staff didn't live locally. Due to this not many activities were organized outside of work. Saying this we did have some socials organized.